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Week in Review:

• Presented and explained stakeholder information from the finalized stakeholders' Google Sheets document, with the representative from Baringa.

• Received and implemented constructive feedback on the Mozambique communications pager, enhancing clarity and engagement.

• Attended a meeting at the Maldives embassy with Dr. Iruthisham Adam to discuss the Football for Peace Commonwealth Project.

• Documented the Maldives embassy meeting through videos and photos for social media content.

• Organized content and meeting minutes into a shared Google folder for the Football for Peace team.

• Brainstormed ideas for incorporating a social media component into the MVP Programme with the Football for Peace supervisor.

• Compiled MVP programme social media component ideas and necessary items/apps into a detailed document for our Football for Peace supervisor.

Reflection:

Our week started with a meeting involving the review of the finalized stakeholders' Google Sheets document with the representative from Baringa. This session was pivotal as it allowed us to present and explain the stakeholder information while detailing what their current priorities should be, which included discussing required deliverables and future communication and collaboration strategies with stakeholders. The meeting concluded with a directive to prepare a first draft of the Mozambique communications pager within two weeks, setting a clear and achievable goal for our team.

On Thursday, we had an informative meeting at the Football for Peace (FfP) office with our supervisor. The primary focus was on refining the Mozambique communications pager, for which we received constructive feedback. Our initial outline and mockups were well-received but required minor adjustments in wording and additional visuals to enhance clarity and engagement. Moreover, we were tasked with creating an additional pager for the UN Think Tank exercise Football for Peace took part in, emphasizing the impacts of the organization's events and projects. This UN Think Tank communication pager is crucial for effectively conveying the organization's legislative and governmental impacts, as well as their initiatives like the Rehydrating the Earth campaign, for their stakeholders. We created an outline for this pager post-meeting as we were tasked with revising the Mozambique pager and creating a draft of the UN Think Tank pager by next Monday.

Later that day, we attended a meeting at the Maldives embassy in Central London. The discussion with Dr. Iruthisham Adam, the High Commissioner of the Maldives to the UK, revolved around the Football for Peace Commonwealth Project. Key topics included youth resilience through sports diplomacy and climate change collaboration. The meeting was productive, resulting in several strategic decisions, such as planning a Peace Centre at Maldives International University and integrating anti-trafficking education into our football programs in the Maldives. My role was to document the meeting through videos and photos for social media, while my classmates took detailed notes. Post-meeting, we organized the content and meeting minutes into a shared Google folder for the Football for Peace team.

Our week concluded with another meeting with our Football for Peace supervisor to brainstorm ideas for incorporating a social media component into their MVP Programme. We proposed several creative activities to engage teens, including: 

• Vlogging Action Days: Teams of teens vlog and edit short clips of their action day together, which they post at the end of the session for review. 

This idea helps keep the teens actively engaged throughout their day as they document and reflect on each step. It also teaches them practical content creation skills, such as editing or writing a script for a video.   

• Social Media Scavenger Hunt: Teams complete a scavenger hunt related to water awareness or community cleanup, posting tasks on social media or creating short videos.

This idea offers the possibility to gamify what the teens have learned through the session about both water related education and social media theory, as the teens must team up in groups to solve the clues to find the scavenger hunt items (Alexander, 2022). Clues can be cryptic, humorous, or visually captivating, while encouraging the teens to explore Football for Peace’s social media channels in some facet (Usman, 2024). Having prizes offered would further engage the teens by incentivizing them to work efficiently, use their knowledge to solve riddles, and use social media to document these discoveries as fast as possible to win (Carmella Marketing, 2019). This idea also offers the teens an opportunity to team build and connect with one another as they work together to solve the clues (The Big Smoke, 2024).  

• Photo Contest: A daily photo contest with different themes, where the most creative photos and impactful captions win prizes. 

This idea promotes creativity, writing skills, and shows how much the teens have learned throughout the course of the MVP programme. For this task, the teens could either work together or individually. This also creates user-generated content for Football for Peace to repost to their Instagram.

• Short Form Informational Videos: Teens create short videos on community action topics, presented as expert guides. 

This idea promotes active creativity and collaboration as the teens have to work together in groups to come up with a video idea based on what they have learned to boost water or climate awareness within their communities. This means they will be using skills such as writing a script, directing a video, filming a video(s), and editing the video together to create the final product. Not only are these skills useful for the teens to practice, but this exercise also showcases what they have learned whilst simultaneously educating their peers via the informational video (University of Lincoln: Digital Education, 2024). It also creates user-generated content for Football for Peace to repost to both their Instagram and Youtube channel, thus generating brand and climate awareness through the videos (Corrin, 2020). 

We also suggested creating a hashtag for these activities to keep this content organized on social media once it is posted, which helps Football for Peace leaders not only to find the content easier but also creates an avenue for user-generated content to be posted in the future (Hongjun, 2010). These activities can also be used to teach the teen participants involved in the MVP programme about how impactful the internet can be when used for good and how to build community, thus fostering a healthier relationship between them and the internet moving forward (Mayo Clinic, 2024). After the brainstorming session, we compiled all the ideas and necessary items/apps into a detailed document for our Football for Peace supervisor to have. 

Overall, this week's experiences with Football for Peace reinforced the importance of effective communication, collaboration, and creativity in advancing when working within a company. The week's activities have prepared us well for the tasks ahead and strengthened our resolve to contribute meaningfully to the organization's goals as we look toward wrapping up our work with them next week.

References:

Alexander, C. (2022). Experiential Learning and Technology: Scavenger Hunts. [online] Curby Alexander. Available at: https://curbyalexander.net/blog/2022/2/21/experiential-learning-and-technology-treasure-hunts [Accessed 4 Aug. 2024].

Carmella Marketing (2019). Social Media Scavenger Hunt. [online] Carmella Marketing. Available at: https://carmellamarketing.com/2019/08/19/social-scavenger-hunt/ [Accessed 4 Aug. 2024].

Corrin, S. (2020). How to Run a Social Media Photo Contest (11 Easy Tips). [online] https://rafflepress.com/how-to-run-a-social-media-photo-contest/. Available at: https://rafflepress.com/how-to-run-a-social-media-photo-contest/.

Hongjun, W. (2010). Contests: from a Young Consumer’s Perspective. Young Consumers, 11(3), pp.239–243. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/17473611011074304.

Mayo Clinic (2024). How to Help your Teen Navigate Social Media. [online] Mayo Clinic. Available at: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/tween-and-teen-health/in-depth/teens-and-social-media-use/art-20474437#:~:text=Healthy%20social%20media.

The Big Smoke (2024). The Benefits of Scavenger Hunts For Team Building | The Big Smoke Events. [online] The Big Smoke Events. Available at: https://www.thebigsmokeevents.com/corporate-team-building-events/scavenger-hunt/benefits-scavenger-hunts-for-work.

University of Lincoln: Digital Education (2024). Students Creating an Information Videos. [online] University of Lincoln: Digital Education. Available at: https://digitaleducation.lincoln.ac.uk/showcase/showcase-production/showcase-students-creating-an-informational-video/.

Usman, H. (2024). Social Media Scavenger Hunts for Brands and Events – Barking Bliss Dogs. [online] Barkingblissdogs.com. Available at: https://barkingblissdogs.com/social-media-scavenger-hunts-for-brands-and-events/ [Accessed 4 Aug. 2024].